The lack of upgradable storage, RAM, and the limited connectivity of the M1 do limit the overall scope though. Two ports are it, and only one external display is supported.
Yeah, for me looking at a MB/Pro - those aren't deal breakers. I get all the RAM and internal storage I need when I buy it, it costs, but these things easily last 5+ years, and if/when I need more storage, that's what NASes and external drives are for: for me most of my files are just various Virtual Machines, and I can shuttle those off easily enough. But if someone were looking to replace an iMac or other Desktop - yeah, I can see why they focused on what lines they did for the introduction.
The only hiccup for me is screen size right now. I don't use a ton of external devices frequently - a wired ethernet device time to time, USB-Serial adapter maybe once a year, HDMI on very rare occasion. Virtualization is another potential hiccup - I do need to drop to Windows on occasion, and VMWare is nice for that... so I'd have to come up with another solution for the times when I need this; at least until there's an emulation package available for Windows. But the frequency I use that is low enough that it isn't a driving factor - the vast majority of my time is wrapped up just in email, PDFs, spreadsheets, text editors, and SSH terminals to be honest. I could ~almost~ make it work with my iPad.
I think there is a lower end Air model that only has 7 GPU compute units (and maybe a mini?), whereas all the other models have 8, but apart from that, yeah, the M1's are all about the same. If you were doing a lot of video work or something the fan in the Pro might be worth something - I think it also has a bit bigger battery, so if you were a road warrior that might mean something... but it's all pretty minor, and yeah, I've very nearly pulled the trigger on an Air or Mini more than once, justifying it by saying I can always sell it once the 16" comes out. I've already owned more Minis than I have a right to admit and just sold off my favorite one since I no longer had a good use for it though (a 2010 Server model).
I don't get the touchbar either. I thought I might be a neat idea when it was first introduced, but I've never used one and it just doesn't seem to have caught on. Now that i hear about a lot of the drawbacks from people that have lived with them, I have to agree - it's pretty well dead. If I had one, I don't know that I would hate it, but I don't think I would go out of my way to make sure I get one.
